The Seventh | A Dark Matter Fanfiction | Two (Portia Lin)

Chapter 35

Seven and Two laid on the bed, catching their breaths. The peaceful silence was suddenly shattered by a panicked yell echoing through the ship.

"Hey! Hey, help!!!"

Five's desperate cries jolted them out of their tranquility.

"Shit, what—" Seven muttered, scrambling to his feet.

Both of them leaped out of bed, hastily pulling on their clothes. Seven's shirt remained completely unbuttoned as they rushed out, propelled by the urgency in Five's voice.

"Somebody help! Somebody help!" Five continued to yell, her voice growing more frantic.

Heart pounding, they sprinted through the corridors towards the source of the commotion, their footsteps echoing loudly against the metal floors.

"What's the matter?" Two demanded breathlessly as they burst into the bridge.

"The Android's offline," Five replied, her face pale with worry.

They rushed to where the Android lay motionless on the ground. Seven knelt down, quickly assessing the situation.

"Her neural chip's been removed," he said, looking up at Two with concern etched across his face.

There's something in her hand," Five pointed out, her voice trembling slightly.

Two bent down and carefully pried the fabric patch from the Android's fingers. She held it up, eyes narrowing as she recognized the emblem. "Volkov-Rusi," she said.

"The soldiers who took the ship," Seven added, his face darkening at the memory.

"We didn't get them all," Two concluded.

<>

Seven gently laid the Android down in the Medbay's isolation chamber, activating the barrier.

Three paced furiously. "Son of a bitch. No one messes with my robot."

Two stood beside the barrier, her eyes sharp with determination. "Whoever took her down removed her neural implant. We need to recover it to bring her back online."

Four's expression was grim. "Assuming it hasn't already been destroyed."

"I don't think so," Two replied. "With the implant, you could do a full reboot to make her more manageable. Control the Android, and you control the ship."

Three frowned, his frustration evident. "So why didn't whoever it was do it already? Why wait?"

"I don't know," Two admitted. "Maybe they weren't thinking straight, or Five scared them off, or maybe they have some other agenda."

One rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But how is this possible? We did a full top-to-bottom sweep."

Six's face was set in determination. "Obviously, we need to do a better one this time."

"Right," Two agreed. "But remember, we need to keep them alive."

Three's expression was fierce. "At least until we get the implant back."

Two grabbed one of the guns from her holster and handed it to Five. "You know how to use it."

Five took the gun with a nod. "Yeah."

"Good," Two said. "One, you're with Four. Five, you're with Six. Three, Seven, you're with me. Keep your eyes on your partner and stay in touch."

The crew nodded, determination etched on their faces. They moved out in pairs, ready to hunt down the intruder and recover what was taken.